


The F8 of the Furious

by Shadowcrawler



Series: Kara Palamas is a Lesbian [2]
Category: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, F/F, Fast Cars, Femslash February, Gen, Team as Family
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-08
Updated: 2018-11-03
Packaged: 2019-03-15 10:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13611768
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Shadowcrawler/pseuds/Shadowcrawler
Summary: “I’ve seen that look in her eyes before. Daisy Johnson just went rogue.”(aFate of the FuriousAU)





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Here it is, the completely unnecessary Fast and the Furious Daisy/Kara AU that nobody asked for! Except me because I fucking loved this movie, but it would be better with lesbians. 
> 
> This is also the only Fast and the Furious movie I've seen so far, so I am really playing fast and loose with the actual canon of the series. Also I don't know anything about cars, I'm sorry if something is grossly inaccurate.

Daisy picked Beijing because, according to her mother, she has distant cousins there and she wants to take advantage of any “family discounts” they might be able to get.

Okay, and there’s street racing. She’s only human.

Her Mandarin is passable, at best, enough to sweet-talk her way into the day’s final race anyway. From what she’s managed to pick up, this isn’t a race for money so much as for bragging rights. Whatever.

“I shouldn’t be offended that you’re spending part of our honeymoon with a car, should I?” teases Kara as she watches Daisy fiddle around under the car’s hood.

“Well, I already took you for a ride, babe,” replies Daisy, looking up with a salacious wink. “But even you can’t go eighty.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Kara rolls her eyes and smirks. “You’re making it up to me later.”

“Don’t worry,” Daisy purrs as she slams the car’s hood down and pulls Kara in for a kiss. “I’ll get under your hood too.”

“You’re so corny,” Kara laughs.

“Hey, you must like it, you married me.”

Daisy’s working with a loaner car, which isn’t her favorite - she prefers to get to know how a car drives before she races it. But this is better than nothing, and she likes the way this engine hums when she starts it up. It’s a black Lamborghini, not the latest model, which is probably why it’s up for grabs, but she can feel that it’s still a good car. And with the modifications she’s made to it today...well, let’s just say that she’s pretty confident that she’ll win.

Soon enough she’s down at the starting line, the other racers (all guys, of course) revving their engines and yelling what are probably playful jeers at each other. She can only get every other word - there’s a lot of insults about their mothers - so she tunes them out.

She grips the wheel, settles into the seat, and waits for the flag.

Daisy’s not religious. Sure, she grew up surrounded by nuns who did their damnedest to put the fear of God into her - but fear’s not the way to convince her of anything. The closest she’s ever felt to the way Sister Elizabeth described her love for God is...well, it’s in this moment, when the flag drops down and she lets the car do what it does best.

Then it’s just instinct. Hit the gas. Avoid the other cars. Don’t run into anything. Don’t brake unless you have to.

_Win._

The race itself is a blur. She barely absorbs anything but the cars around her, weaving wildly through the streets. They know these streets, but she’s smart and she doesn’t mind fighting dirty. Finally it’s her and one other guy, who’s driving a sleek red Ferrari. She sees him glare over at her - he’s pissed. Whether it’s because she’s a girl or a newcomer or some combination, who knows, but either way he’s out for blood.

Unfortunately for him, so is she.

They race side-by-side, cars scraping together, and he tries to drive her into one of the buildings, but she’s not having any of it. Her tires squeal as she wrenches the steering wheel around and tries to use her car’s sharper nose to shove him away from her. He pushes back.

Daisy shuts her eyes and floors the gas.

When she opens her eyes again, there’s nothing in front of her but the finish line. Also her engine is smoking. That’s new.

She wins the race, doesn’t crash the car, and it doesn’t _quite_ burst into flames, so she considers it a success.

\---

Kara sighs, melting into the bed. “Oh my god, that’s enough,” she gasps, shoving Daisy’s head away before she can start on round four of the apology cunnilingus. “You’re forgiven.”

“You sure?” Daisy asks, giving her a shit-eating grin. “I feel like I have at least one more apology in me.”

“At least give me a minute,” Kara says, laughing. “C’mere.” She tugs Daisy up for a kiss. “You crazy daredevil.”

“Look, the car’s in one piece, I’m in one piece, I won, everything is fine.” Daisy tosses her head. “Plus, you love it. It turns you on.”

“Didn’t say it didn’t.” Kara runs her hand through Daisy’s hair. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

The next morning, Kara refuses to get out of bed no matter how much Daisy pokes her, so Daisy shrugs and goes out to get them steamed dumplings for breakfast. There’s a little shop not far away that has a killer deal.

She’s on her way back when she hears a car’s engine failing to turn over. She spots the car, hood up, a few blocks away, a woman leaning over it. “Need help with your car?” she calls in her rudimentary Mandarin. At least she knows car terms.

The woman looks up. She’s white, with long brown hair, and wearing sunglasses. That’s weird. It’s not even that bright out today. “Sorry?” she asks in English.

“Oh,” says Daisy, jogging over. “I was asking if you need help with your car.”

“I guess so,” purrs the woman, smiling at Daisy. “Thanks. Do you know anything about cars?”

“Kinda.” Daisy grins at her own joke and leans over the car. “It sounded like your engine’s not getting any fuel. Oh, that’s weird...your fuel relay’s missing. That’s not supposed to-”

“I know,” interrupts the woman, and Daisy looks up to see her holding it, like a dare. “So how’s your honeymoon going, Daisy?” She slips her sunglasses off her face and looks Daisy square in the eyes.

Daisy sucks in a breath. “Aida, Jesus Christ. What are _you_ doing here?”

“Looking for you.” Aida leans over to expertly place the fuel relay back in its spot and continues breezily, “I have a job for you.”

“A _job_?” Daisy curls her lip. “What in god’s name makes you think I would ever work for you?”

“Oh, you’ll work for me. I know it.”

“You do realize my team can stop you, right? No matter what crazy bullshit you pull, they can-”

  
“Oh Daisy.” Aida gives her a pitying look. “I don’t think you understand. Your team will be going up against the one thing they can’t handle.” At Daisy’s silence, she (unnecessarily) explains, “You.”

Daisy shakes her head. “I don’t have to listen to this. Goodbye, Aida.” She starts to turn away.

Aida coughs and pulls out her phone, offering it to Daisy. “I think you’ll find this convincing,” she calls after Daisy with a smirk.

Daisy narrows her eyes and turns back to see whatever Aida’s showing her on the phone. Her heart plummets when she checks the screen. “Fuck,” she gasps, mouth falling open. “What…?”

“I’ll contact you with the details,” says Aida, slipping her phone back into her pocket. “And you’d better not tell anyone about this, either. I’d hate for anything to happen to that cute little wife of yours.” Before Daisy can say anything, Aida’s in her car and speeding off, leaving Daisy standing there dumbfounded, holding the bag of dumplings.

She dazedly makes her way back to their hotel, where Kara’s in the middle of getting dressed. “Hey,” she calls, beaming. “You were gone longer than I thought, everything okay?”

Daisy nods and sets the bag down on the table. “Yeah,” she says, offering Kara what she feels like is a blatantly false smile. “Just fine.”

\---

Mack’s trying to make sure all the girls are doing their stretches, so he doesn’t see the figure hovering around the edge of the soccer field right away. Even when he figures out it’s there, he does his best to ignore it. It can’t be anything good. It’s actually not until the figure has sidled up to him and murmurs, “Mackenzie,” that he acknowledges it.

“Yeah?” he grunts, not taking his eyes off the field where his girls are lining up for the start of the game.

“You could look at me,” replies the figure wryly, and Mack spares a half-second to look him full in the face. It’s Mr. Nobody, of course. Mack knew it would be. Same wry smirk, same black eyepatch covering his left eye. Same bald head, even though it’s covered by the hoodie he’s wearing at the moment. Subtle.

“Okay, I looked at you,” Mack says, wary. “Did you want something? I’m kind of…” He nods at the field, where the girls are just about to do the first kickoff.

“Cute,” Mr. Nobody says. “Glad you’re enjoying your unemployment. That one’s Hope, isn’t it?” He gestures toward the one of the taller girls, who has dark skin like Mack and a fierce expression as she sprints after the ball.

Mack doesn’t respond. “I’m actually working right now. If the Dragon Warriors lose this game, then they don’t go on to the championships, and if they don’t go to the championships, I’m gonna have to comfort twenty upset nine-year-olds with hours of ice cream and karaoke. Have you ever taken twenty nine-year-olds to Baskin-Robbins?”

Mr. Nobody’s mouth quirks up on one side. “I have not.”

“Nine-year-olds eat their weight in ice cream if you let them,” deadpans Mack. “It’s a disaster.” He turns back to the field. “Careful Sophie, keep the ball close to you!” He glances back at Mr. Nobody and adds, “Anyway, like I said, I have a job to do.”

“You do,” says Mr. Nobody. “And I’m about to brief you on it.”

“I don’t work for you anymore, sir,” Mack says. “Good job, Trinity, good hustle!”

“Not technically,” Mr. Nobody replies. “But you were the one who gave us the intel on that rogue EMP device in Berlin. So you’re the one who gets to go get it.”

Mack gives him a long stare. “And why exactly should I do that?”

“A rogue EMP device,” repeats Mr. Nobody, as if Mack’s a child. “You know the specs on it. You _know_ it can knock out entire blocks’ worth of power in a second. A whole city, maybe, if set off in the right spot. You know the danger in that.”

“I do,” says Mack, turning back to the field, . He starts clapping and calls, “C’mon, Hope, it’s wide open for you, go for it, don’t let them - _yes!_ ” He pumps both fists in the air and then glances at Mr. Nobody, beaming. “That’s my daughter!”

“Congratulations,” says Mr. Nobody dryly. At Mack’s stern look, he raises his hands to clap slowly and loudly several times.

“Look, can we talk about this later?” Mack asks. “Like I said, I have a job to do.”

“Your job is to keep people safe,” Mr. Nobody replies. “Including them.” He nods at the field. “How safe do you think it is for a rogue EMP device to be floating around in Berlin?”

Mack’s quiet a long moment, then he sighs. “What do you want me to do?”

“Steal it back,” says Mr. Nobody, in a tone that implies he thinks Mack is stupid for even asking. “I know you’re still in contact with that team of yours. I know they’ll come running if you call.”

Mack doesn’t answer right away, just yells, “C’mon, Felicity, remember what we talked about!”

Mr. Nobody ignores him and continues. “It’s dangerous, but I know you like that shit. We can’t trust a regular government team with this. It’s completely off the radar. If you get caught, there’ll be consequences.”

“Nothing you’re saying is making me want to agree,” says Mack, although part of him is intrigued.

“If you don’t, we can’t guarantee anyone’s safety. Including your daughter’s.”

That makes Mack sigh in a long-suffering way. “Fine. I’ll call Daisy after this.”

“I expected nothing else.” Mr. Nobody shrugs. “I’ll contact you with the details.” He strolls off, calling “Good luck” over his shoulder.

Mack sighs and shakes his head, then does his best to concentrate on the game. But he’s rattled from his talk with Mr. Nobody, and the knowledge that he’s going to have to leave Hope _again_ when he’s only had a few months with her since the last time. He does his best to act normal, and he is overjoyed when the Dragon Warriors win the game and ambush him with hugs. But when the rest of the players run off to change, Hope stays. “Dad,” she says, “is something wrong? You look sad.”

Mack sighs. “You know how I said I got fired from my old job?”

“Yeah.” Hope tilts her head.

“Well, they need me to do one more thing. And it’s really important, and I can’t say no. But it means…” He runs his hand over his head. “It means I have to leave again, honey. I think just for a week, but I’m not sure.”

Hope gives him the saddest eyes, but she nods. “Okay,” she says. “Does that mean I’m gonna go stay with Uncle Ruben?”

“Yeah, probably.” Mack pulls Hope in for a hug, and she nestles against him. “I’m sorry, baby.”

“It’s okay, Dad,” Hope mumbles. “But you have to be back for the championships. Promise?”

“I promise,” Mack says, and he’s never taken a promise more seriously in his life.

\---

“Well,” Mack says over the comms. “I feel like that could’ve gone better.”

This is a bit of an understatement, considering there’s a dozen special forces vehicles on their tails, as well as a helicopter.

“Don’t look at me,” Elena says, “I did my job. I could have broken into that security system in my sleep.”

“Guys!” yelps Daisy. “Let’s debrief later, get out of the way of that wrecking ball now!” Because, of course, there’s a giant wrecking ball that’s come loose and is rolling after them.

“If Lucy gets one scratch on her I swear to God-!” That’s Robbie, who’s ridiculously overprotective of his 1969 Dodge Charger. To the point where the rest of the team wonders why he keeps bringing it on top-secret, highly dangerous missions, but he insists on it, so they don’t question him.

“Fan out!” calls Kara, and they do, Kara and Daisy’s cars veering off to the right with Mack’s close behind them, and Elena, Robbie, and Melinda going off to the left.

“Please everyone be careful!” Jemma yelps. She’s in Melinda’s car, because they couldn’t not bring their team doctor along, even though she hates the getaway driving parts of these missions. “I’d prefer we all get out of this in one piece!”

“We’ll do our best,” Mack promises. He steps on his gas and starts swerving, trying to lose one of the cop cars that’s on his tail.

Meanwhile, Kara and Daisy stick close together. Daisy has the EMP device in her car, and Kara’s prepared to act as the decoy if the cops manage to stay on them for too long. “Dais,” she says over the comm, “you need me to lead them away?”

She waits, but Daisy doesn’t answer. She speeds up a little so she’s driving right alongside Daisy, and looks over at her before trying the comm again. “Daisy! Want me to get the cops off your ass?”

Daisy doesn’t reply again, just turns to look at Kara. Kara’s seen her wife in a hundred moods, and she likes to think she’s pretty good at reading Daisy’s face at this point. But Daisy’s expression sends a chill through Kara. She’s never seen Daisy look so... _vacant_.

“Daisy?” she asks. “Daisy, c’mon, what’s wrong?”

Daisy says nothing and hits the gas, peeling away from Kara.

“Mack!” Kara calls. “Mack, go after Daisy!”

Mack hears her and obliges. He’s far enough away that it’s faster for him to turn so he’s practically pointed straight at Daisy’s car. He eventually manages to flank her, looking for the cops he presumes he needs to throw off Daisy’s scent.

Except there aren’t any cops. It’s just him and Daisy.

“Daisy!” he calls. “You okay?”

Silence. He tries again. “Daisy! Come in!”

She looks up at him then. Holds up the EMP device, so he can see it. And then, face completely devoid of emotion, she rams her car right into his.

He’s barely able to absorb what’s happening before his car flips over and there’s a deafening crash all around him. Then, pain and heat that he suddenly realizes is the fire coming from his trunk.

He manages to drag himself out from the wreckage of the car just in time to watch Daisy drive onto the lowered ramp of the helicopter that had been chasing them.

“Mack!” Kara comes in over the comm, which has been sort of mashed into the side of his head in the crash (and he’ll have a killer headache from that), but seems miraculously unharmed. “Mack! Where’s Daisy?”

Mack shakes his head, still trying to make sense of what he’s seen. “Daisy...she’s gone, Kara.”

“ _What?_ ”

“I’ve seen that look in her eyes before. Daisy Johnson just went rogue.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HAHAHA WHOOPS this was...supposed to be up before now. OH WELL. This'll get done when it gets done!

“Alright,” Melinda says, glancing around at the group. “So this isn’t great.”

This is something of an understatement, considering Daisy is MIA and Mack is in jail at the moment. He barely protested when the Berlin police caught up to him, and they haven’t heard from him since. (Mr. Nobody contacted them a few hours ago to explain that he had a plan and he was working on getting Mack released right now, but it’s cold comfort when they’re all still reeling from Daisy’s betrayal.)

Kara’s pacing back and forth across the room, almost manic, she’s so upset. “Fucking understatement of the year,” she snaps. “What the hell happened to my wife?”

Jemma’s rubbing her own neck absently, like she does when she’s anxious. “Daisy wouldn’t...she wouldn’t turn on us,” she says, sounding very small. “Would she?”

“What exactly did you see?” Robbie asks Kara.

“I told you!” snaps Kara. “She looked right at me and she looked, I don’t know, _cold!_ Like she wasn’t feeling anything. There was just nothing behind her eyes. And then she drove off with the EMP and Mack went after her.”

“And Mack is in jail now.” Elena shakes her head. “That Mr. Nobody better be as powerful as he claims to be.”

Kara kicks the couch, glowering. “It’s his fault we were there, right?” she says. “He told Mack about the job in the first place. If he hadn’t sent us on this mission then maybe Daisy would still be here.”

“We don’t know much,” says Melinda, silencing Kara with a look. “For all we know, Daisy would’ve split even if we hadn’t gone on this job. So what we can do now is get a plan together for what happens if she uses that device.”

Kara narrows her eyes. “Maybe it was mind control.”

“Mind control?” scoffs Robbie. “What is this, comic books?”

“You don’t know!” Kara retorts. “You didn’t see her like that, Robbie! She was, I don’t know, she wasn’t her! She has to be doing this for a reason, there’s got to be an angle. It’s not her!”

“Look, I don’t want this to be happening either!” Robbie replies. His eyes are blazing with anger. “You think I want one of my best friends to have gone rogue? I don’t! I care just as much about Daisy as you do!”

“No you don’t!” says Kara, and her voice breaks a bit on the last word. “She’s...she’s…” She makes a noise that’s equal parts rage and pain and storms out of the room.

The others all look to Melinda, the unofficial leader of the team now that Daisy’s gone. She sighs. “Give her time. It’s a lot to take. Meanwhile, like I said, we need to prepare for the inevitable.”

\---

Once Daisy’s put the car in park, and has gotten used to the deeply unsettling sensation of being on a plane while sitting on a car, she just sits there for a minute. Aida hasn’t sent anyone to fetch her, so she must be alright with Daisy taking her sweet time to come see her. Hell, it’s not like there’s anything else Daisy can do. It’s a _plane_.

She can’t get Kara’s look of confused horror out of her mind. She can’t help but hope that Kara will understand once Daisy can explain to her what’s really going on.

Finally, it seems Aida’s grown tired of Daisy’s sitting in the car, staring at nothing, because a door at the other end of the hangar opens and a man enters. He’s not really what Daisy expected: short, scrawny, dark hair and a Mirror Universe-esque beard. He’s got a gun strapped to him, but he hasn’t drawn it. He just walks over to Daisy’s car, businesslike. “Daisy Johnson,” he says, his accent Scottish. “Come with me.”

Daisy eyes the guy and doesn’t say anything, just gets out of the car and follows him. She’s not interested in giving anything away to this guy, whoever he is.

He leads her into a part of the plane that’s ridiculously fancy. It has a bar and also couches. Daisy’s never seen anything like it before, except in movies. Aida is perched on the couch, casually holding a cocktail like this is normal. “Daisy,” she says, smirking. “Glad you could make it.”

“Aida,” says Daisy, not returning the sentiment.

“Oh, you needn’t be so standoffish,” Aida says with a chuckle. “Come, sit. Would you like a drink? Leopold makes an excellent martini.”

“No,” Daisy says stonily.

Aida shrugs and continues. “I suppose you’d like to hear more about why you’re here.”

“I would.”

“Please, share one drink with me first,” wheedles Aida. “You’ve had a long day, surely you could relax a bit.”

Daisy grunts, but when the man (Leopold?) offers her a martini she takes it without comment.

“Come, sit next to me,” purrs Aida, patting the sofa. When Daisy doesn’t move, Aida sighs. “So stubborn. You’ll have to learn to take orders from someone else sooner or later, Daisy.”

Daisy just growls and sips her martini. It _is_ a damn good martini. That doesn’t mean she’s enjoying herself.

\---

Mack’s spent the last few hours pacing around his cell and doing a lot of thinking. There’s really not much else to do in a prison cell, after all.

Mr. Nobody had told him that he could get him out in twenty four hours, forty eight tops. That sounds great and all, but Mack’s not keen on his chances, being a black man escaping from jail and all. Hell, the sentence they gave him wasn’t so bad. Only...seven years. He can do seven years. It’ll all be okay. Hope’s with Ruben, Ruben will take care of her. They’ll come visit him, probably.

And then his day just keeps getting better. Guess who’s his across-the-hall neighbor.

“My god, is that Alphonso Mackenzie? I haven’t seen you since I tried to blow all you bastards up!”

Mack looks up, praying that maybe he’s just misheard. Nope. Lance Hunter is there in the flesh, smirking at him. “Funny how you found yourself in the same place as me,” Hunter says, with a smile like he’s just discovered the secret to the universe and wants to bask in his own brilliance for a minute. “What’d you do to get here, hm? Can’t have been anything run-of-the-mill. Rob the White House? No, that’s not your style at all.”

Mack ignores him.

“Your team’s not here, are they? No, I bet Daisy let you take the fall again. You’re always doing that, aren’t you? For her, I mean. Weird how that keeps happening. Makes you kind of a pushover, if you ask me. And her kind of an arsehole.”

Mack growls. “Daisy had nothing to do with this,” he says, and even he doesn’t think he sounds convincing.

“Sure, sure.” Hunter shrugs. “Well, you enjoy your wallowing, mate. I’ll be over here if you wanna chat.” He drops to the floor and starts doing clapping pushups.

Mack rolls his eyes. He’s really not in the mood for Hunter’s smug bad-boy act today. “You’re doing them wrong,” he can’t help but say.

Hunter pauses to glance up. “Say what now?”

“The pushups. You’re putting too much strain on your upper half. Distribute some of your weight into your toes, it’ll work better.” Mack sighs and gets into position. “Like this,” he says, starting to demonstrate it.

“Did you just explain how to do _pushups_ to me?” sputters Hunter. “Me?”

Mack ignores him and keeps going.

“Oh, I’m not taking that lying down!” Hunter starts doing pushups again, grunting with the effort it takes him to use the same technique as Mack (he’s clearly not used to it at all).

This goes on for a truly absurd amount of time before something in the front of Mack’s cell buzzes and the door slides open.

Mack stops doing pushups. He glances up at the camera in the corner of the cell. “I said no, Mr. Nobody!” he calls. “You’ll have to find someone else to do your dirty work now. I’ll get out the right way, and screw you!”

His shouting attracts some guards, who have their weapons pointed at him. Mack immediately puts up his hands and starts stammering, “I’m not leaving this cell, I’m right here” as he backs further into it. They don’t seem to believe him and keep yelling orders at him.

Hunter seems to find all of this hilarious. “Hey, hey,” he calls to one of the guards, “I know how he did it.”

The guard in question lowers his electric baton and steps close to Hunter’s cell door, looking suspicious. “How?”

Before he can blink, Hunter’s reached through and grabbed the guard’s weapon, wrestling with him until Hunter can stab it right into the automatic electric locking system on the front of his cell. Once he’s done that, his and all the other doors spring open and he kicks the guard in the face before bolting free. The other inmates follow his lead, fists up and swinging, ready to fight their way out if necessary. The guards who were watching Mack seem taken aback, and are easily dispatched by other inmates who are throwing wild punches in an attempt to break through the sudden chaos of the hallway.

“Dammit,” sighs Mack, making his way out of his cell. “Couldn’t do things the easy way.”

He makes his way out toward the exit, mostly trying to keep out of people’s way (he knows how to fight, he’d just rather not), and he’s almost there when someone smacks into him. He grunts and whirls to look at whoever it is.

Hunter holds up his hands. “Hey, hey, no hard feelings here, hm? Just because I tried to murder you and your bunch that one time? Let’s let bygones be bygones!”

Mack’s about to snap at him, but he spots an unguarded door and sprints for it instead. Unfortunately, Hunter is right on his tail. He ignores him and makes a beeline for the big black car parked out front. It’s the kind of car that doesn’t go to prisons, so someone should definitely be investigating this, but nobody is.

“Took you long enough,” Mr. Nobody says, once he’s inside.

Mack says nothing.

“Ooh,” says Hunter, “thanks for thinking of me, mystery man.” He grabs one of the beer cans stuck into the backseat’s cupholders and takes a long swig.

Mack glares at the rearview mirror. “Can’t you kick him out?”

“Nope,” Mr. Nobody says. “He’s part of this too.” He ignores Mack’s protests for the next twenty minutes.

\---

Mr. Nobody has Mack and the rest of Daisy’s team in a secure room in his secure base. They all look like they’d rather be in the middle of a tooth extraction than be there. This might partially be because they’re all handcuffed to the table.

“Excuse me,” Mr. Nobody says, looking askance at the skinny blond guy who’s been guarding them, “what is that shit?”

The guy frowns. “You said to round them up.”

“Not like _this,_ jackass. We want them to like us! Get them out of that.” Mr. Nobody waves his hand impatiently. “Sorry for this dumbass.”

“Fuck you,” snarls Kara. “Why are we here?”

“And why is _he_ here?” Robbie asks, narrowing his eyes at Hunter. “Don’t tell me you expect us to do anything but turn his ass inside out.”

Melinda shoots them both a warning glare. “Explain,” she says to Mr. Nobody, as the blond guy starts uncuffing all of them.

“Make yourselves comfortable,” Mr. Nobody says to Mack and Hunter, nodding at the empty seats. “I have something to talk to you all about.”

“Yeah, we kind of figured that out from the handcuffs and the secret location,” snarks Elena.

Mr. Nobody gives her a dirty look, but doesn’t continue until both Mack and Hunter are seated. (Hunter flops into his chair like it’s his favorite recliner and he’s about to kick back and watch the game. Mack rolls his eyes.) “We have a situation on our hands,” he says. “Your leader, Daisy Johnson, escaped with the EMP device you all were sent to recover, and we have intel that she’s working with this woman.” He nods to the screen at the end of the room, which flashes a picture of a pretty white woman with brown hair and a severe jawline. “Aida. A highly dangerous and elusive cyberterrorist.”

“Oh no,” groans Elena, and mutters something in Spanish under her breath.

“What?” Robbie asks, raising an eyebrow. “Do you know her or something?”

Elena’s very quiet for a long moment, then she sighs and says in a rush, “We might have dated one. For a little while. It wasn’t serious. She was radical in a way I was not comfortable with at all.”

Hunter raises both eyebrows. “I think I’d like to hear more about that.” He yelps in protest when Elena throws a pen at him. “Hey, hey! I meant her radical politics.”

“If we could get back on track,” Mr. Nobody says dryly. “Johnson’s delivered the EMP device to Aida and she’s had it for several days already. We have no idea what her plans for it are, but considering that she’s responsible for the near or complete digital downfall of a dozen companies in the last couple years alone, we’re just a little concerned about it.”

“Great,” sighs Melinda. “So what do you expect us to do about it?”

“Find her and Johnson. Get the device back. I guess this one might have some inside intel,” he says, waving his hand at Elena.

Elena huffs. “I have not talked to Aida in years. Why would I know anything about where she is?”

Mack puts his hand on her arm reassuringly. “Actually, you might be able to help find Daisy,” he says. “What about using God’s Eye?”

She glances at him, contemplative. “That might work,” she says slowly. Then she narrows her eyes and glances over at Hunter. “Just as long as he doesn’t try to steal it again.”

“ _Hey_ ,” whines Hunter. “That was Bob’s idea. And I haven’t talked to her in...well, never mind.” He pouts.

“What’s God’s Eye?” asks the blond guy, looking baffled.

“It’s a program I designed,” Elena says, looking smug. “It can track anyone by hacking into thousands of cameras and satellites all across the globe. Let me show you.”

Once it’s set up, she inputs the relevant information and continues to look smug as the program goes to work. Within seconds, it beeps and zeroes in on a point in London. “There you are,” she says, tossing her head proudly. “She’s in London.” Mack beams over at her proudly.

Then the program beeps again and switches to a satellite view of Japan. “And Tokyo…?” Jemma asks, tilting her head.

“It is not supposed to do that,” Elena says, blinking and tapping a few keys. “It must be an error.”

But it pings again a second later. “Seoul,” Robbie says. “What’s going on here?”

Then the map fills with dozens of results, in every major city. “Damn,” hisses Elena. “I should have known. Aida is too smart, she would know to mask the signal with decoy signals.”

Kara growls. “ I want to know where my wife is.”

“So now what?” Melinda asks. “This is just useless?”

“Not useless.” Elena thinks a moment. “She is probably using a fleet relay, which has a decaying sync randomizer. I can use that to track the original source, if I can hack into her code.”

“You definitely can,” Mack says, smiling at her encouragingly. “You’re a badass.”

“Oh, I know,” Elena says, winking at him. “I was just being dramatic.” She starts typing furiously.

After a minute, the dots begin to disappear on the map, until only one is left. “There,” she says, triumphant. “That’s where Daisy is.”

Mr. Nobody frowns at the map. “That’s not good.”

“What’s not good?” Robbie asks.

The blond guy squints at the map. “That’s right here-”

Whatever he was going to say next is cut off by an enormous explosion that shatters the room’s glass walls. Everyone is knocked off their feet, and before they can do much more than absorb what’s happened, there’s a series of loud thumping noises as half a dozen cannisters roll into the room. There’s another explosion and then…

Kara blinks, coughing, She tries to open her eyes, but the room is blurry, like she’s been asleep and can’t quite wake up yet. There’s a loud ringing in her ears. She grunts and tries to get up, but she landed on the floor hard and she’s sore and disoriented. When she lifts her head, her vision fades in and out of focus.

She manages to roll herself over just as Aida walks through the door, Daisy at her heels.

“Hello there,” Aida purrs, glancing around at everyone who’s on the floor, coughing and groaning. “I bet you’re wondering what’s going on, hm? It’s a little something I cooked up myself. Next-level concussion grenades, they scramble your senses like nothing else. It should wear off in an hour. Probably.” She chuckles arily.

“What do you _want?_ ” Kara tries to say, but it’s like her mouth isn’t attached to her body anymore.

Still, Aida seems to get the gist, because she nods to Daisy. “Get it.” Then she spots Hunter, who’s curled up on his side groaning, and says, “Oh, it’s you. Give my best to Bobbi, won’t you? If she hasn’t dumped you already. I wouldn’t blame her. She’s much better than you are in bed, I doubt you’re satisfying her.”

Hunter tries to spit defiantly at her, but all he ends up doing is drooling on his own chin.

Aida snorts and turns away from him. Kara tries to turn her head so she can see Daisy, and is just in time to catch her disable Elena’s security on God’s Eye and grab the drive the program is stored on. “Daisy!” Kara yelps, not sure how her words are coming out. “Look at me!”

Daisy pauses, and turns to look at Kara. It’s hard to see her expression, because Kara’s eyes still aren’t focusing properly.

“Are you gonna turn your back on your family?” she calls anyway. “On _me?_ ”

Aida chuckles. “Oh, you silly girl. Daisy doesn’t need you anymore. She has me now.” Then she steps over to where Daisy is standing, still looking right at Kara, and pulls Daisy close to kiss her on the lips.

Kara screeches and tries to get up, even though there’s a man standing behind Aida and Daisy with a gun trained on her, even though her limbs feel like they’re made out of pudding.

After drawing out the kiss for what seems like an eternity, Aida finally steps back, letting go of Daisy, and says, “We’re done here. Come on, Daisy, Leopold.” She turns to go, and they follow. Daisy doesn’t look back.

\---

Once everyone’s senses have recovered and they’ve relocated to a part of Mr. Nobody’s mysterious office building that isn’t carpeted in glass shards, Kara starts yelling. “How could she do this to us?!” She picks up the first thing that’s handy, which is a box of whiteboard markers, and hurls them onto the ground. “And that bitch! Kissing my fucking wife right in front of me, Jesus fucking Christ! I’m gonna rip out her spleen and eat it right in front of her!”

“Palamas,” Melinda says sternly. “Stop acting like a toddler.”

Kara snaps, “Fuck off, Mel,” but she doesn’t throw anything else. Elena goes over to put her hand on Kara’s shoulder, and Kara doesn’t shake it off.

“We’re all upset,” Mack says. “But right now, our job is to find Daisy and Aida. Mr. Nobody, do you have a plan for that, or are we on our own?”

“Actually,” Mr. Nobody says, smirking, “we’ve got a little surprise for you.”

He leads them out to a warehouse, which seems to be pretty ordinary until they get inside. “Oh my _god_ ,” Robbie says, eyes wide as he looks at the rows and rows of fancy cars parked in the warehouse. “Where did all these come from?”

“Government seizures, mostly. From the kind of people who could afford rides like these. Shady characters.”

“Wow.” Mack’s gone over to inspect the closest car, a gleaming candy apple red Maserati. “This one looks like it’s never been driven.”

“It probably hasn’t,” chimes in the blond guy. “Most of these were found in private storage.”

Melinda coughs. “So you’re letting us use these?”

“Any one you want,” Mr. Nobody says. “Just has to get the job done.”

“Great.” Melinda strides over confidently to the tank that’s parked closer to the middle of the room. “I like this one.”

“Uh,” says blond guy, raising both eyebrows. “I don’t think that’s-”

Melinda narrows her eyes. “You said _any_.”

Blond guy looks at Mr. Nobody nervously. “Uh…?”

Mr. Nobody shrugs. “I said any.”

Robbie’s walking up and down, inspecting each car. He seems to be taking his sweet time about it. Finally, he returns to the rest of the group and shrugs. “I want to use Lucy.”

Elena rolls her eyes. “Oh, here he goes.”

“Lucy’s faster than any sports car,” says Robbie, offended. “None of the cars _you’ve_ ever driven were faster.”

“Who’s Lucy?” asks blond guy.

“It’s this ‘69 Dodge Charger that Robbie’s obsessed with,” says Mack.

“She’s the best car,” insists Robbie.

“Hey, do I get to get in on this fancy car business too?” Hunter chimes in. “‘Cause I quite fancy that one.” He points at a bright orange BMW M6.

Mr. Nobody shrugs. “If you’re in on this, sure.”

“Oh, I am _in_.” Hunter hops into the driver’s seat, touching the car almost reverently.

Kara’s hanging back, face still stormy. She hasn’t said anything since her outburst. Jemma reaches out to put a hand on her arm. “Are you alright?” she asks quietly. “I mean, I know you’re not... _alright,_ but…”

“I’m not,” agrees Kara, shaking her head. “Thanks for asking. But I won’t be alright until Daisy’s back with us, and I’m holding Aida’s spine in my hands.”

“Oh,” Jemma says quietly. She looks startled. “I suppose that’s fair enough.”

“D’you think you can even get Daisy back?” calls Hunter from where he’s still sprawled in the front seat of the car. “She and Aida looked pretty…” He pauses to make an extremely crude gesture with his fingers.

“ _Fuck off!”_ yells Kara, lunging for the car. Elena manages to grab onto her and keep her from doing whatever grievous bodily harm she was about to inflict on Hunter.

“If you’d like to keep all your body parts intact, I recommend not antagonizing her,” Elena says, while holding Kara’s arms behind her back. “She has extensive training as an assassin, and she knows methods of torture that the rest of us have never even thought of..”

Hunter, white as a sheet, nods.

\---

“Well done,” purrs Aida once they’re back on the plane. “That went perfectly.”

Daisy tosses the drive at Leopold, who barely manages to catch it and gives her a nasty glare. “What was that kiss about?” snaps Daisy. “You didn’t say anything about that.”

Aida chuckles. “You didn’t think I’d do all this without having a little fun, did you? Besides,” she adds, reaching to put an arm around Daisy and rest a hand on her back, “you look so _good_ in black, I couldn’t resist.”

Daisy shakes her off, backing away. “No more of that,” she says. “If you do that again, I’ll walk, I swear to god.”

Leopold laughs darkly. Aida doesn’t, but she does smile, catlike. “Are you sure about that? I think there’s someone on this very plane who might have some things to say about it.”

Daisy gives her a blank stare. “You’re a sociopath.”

“Now now,” tuts Aida. “Let’s not name-call. Anyway, speaking of, there’s someone who wants to see you.”

Daisy hates going with her, but she has no other choice.

Aida leads her to a small room that’s sealed behind a locked door. “Come on out,” calls Aida. “You have a visitor.”

“Hey, Daisy.”

Daisy suddenly feels like she might cry. But she won’t cry in front of Aida, she _won’t._ “Hey, Mike,” she says, swallowing. “How’re you guys doing?”

Mike chuckles. “Been better.” He holds up the baby in his arms, who grins and puts his hand up to the glass. “Look, Ace, it’s Auntie Daisy.”

“Hi, Ace,” Daisy says, putting her own hand on the glass. “I…” She trails off, unsure what to say next.

“I’m sure you’d prefer I leave you alone for this,” Aida says, sounding smug, “but you understand why I can’t.”

“Mike,” Daisy says, ignoring her, “are you guys both okay? Did she hurt you at all?”

“We’re okay,” Mike says. “Kind of bored. There’s not a whole lot to do in this room. Whatever she’s got you doing, I guess hurry up and do it.” He laughs nervously. “He’s getting bigger every day, pretty soon he’s gonna outgrow this room.”

“I will,” Daisy says, “don’t worry, Mike, I’ll get you both out of here. I promise.”

“I know,” Mike says. “You’ve got my back.”

“Always.”

Daisy’s about to say more, but then Aida says, “I think that’s enough for today,” and grabs her shoulders to steer her out of the room. Daisy doesn’t try to look back this time either.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOWZERS this was uhhhhh...supposed to be done before now. I'm so sorry! I swear I'm going to do my best to finish the last part before the year's end.

“Alright, Daisy,” Aida says over the comms. She’s waiting back on the plane, with one of her henchmen (another grumpy Scottish guy, weirdly enough) running surveillance. “You’ve got about ten minutes before the motorcade is due. You have your orders.”

“Roger,” Daisy says. She’s driving along the streets of New York, pretending she’s just another person fighting the traffic caused by the motorcade for the visiting Russian Minister of Defense. So far, it’s working fine.

“Leopold, move in if things go south.”

“Aye,” confirms Leopold. He’s waiting along the route in case the briefcase ends up in the wrong hands.

“Daisy,” Aida adds. 

“Yeah?”

“Remember why you’re here.”

Daisy grunts but doesn’t respond beyond that. She maneuvers her car through one stoplight and then another, fitting right in with the other aggressive and pissed-off New York drivers. Then, after a couple of minutes, she pulls over into an alley. 

Aida, who’s closely monitoring Daisy on the cameras, is confused. “Daisy, what are you doing? We didn’t discuss-”

“Engine’s misfiring,” Daisy says, shutting off the engine and climbing out of the car. “Gotta pull over and take a look.”

Aida sighs theatrically. “Fine. You have five minutes.”

“Won’t take longer than that,” Daisy replies, popping the car’s hood and leaning over the engine.

Aida glares at the screen, and then at her henchman. “Make sure we have cameras on her at all times, Holden,” she growls. “I don’t like this.”

He nods and adjusts a few of the cameras minutely. This gives them a better view...until a truck backs into the shot, completely obscuring Daisy and her car from view. 

“No!” Aida says, leaning closer to the screen. “Get a camera on her!  _ Now! _ ”

“I’m working on it!” says Holden, tapping at his keyboard frantically. “There aren’t any more bloody cameras to access!”

“Then get the reflection off the truck or something!” snaps Aida. “I need to see that she’s still there!”

Holden waves his hand at her impatiently and continues to tap at the keys. Two minutes, then three, then four pass with no view of Daisy, and Aida snarls into her comms, “Daisy, you had better fucking be where you’re supposed to be or I’ll rip your-”

The truck moves, and there’s Daisy, slamming the car hood and glaring up at the security camera. She gets back into the car and says into the comm, “See, five minutes.”

“Get on with it,” hisses Aida.

“You sound upset,” Daisy says. “Did something happen? I thought I heard a truck or something backing up nearby.”

“Nothing,” Aida says through gritted teeth.

\---

_ Five minutes earlier _

Daisy’s not really looking forward to meeting up with Bobbi, but she was the only person she could think of who might help. Bobbi’s supposed to be off the grid, and she’s good at hiding, but Daisy knows all her tricks. 

“Been awhile,” Bobbi says, lounging in her chair as she sips at a whiskey sour. 

“Yep,” Daisy says. “Look, I don’t have time for small talk. You got my messages. Aida’s got God’s Eye and she’s having me steal the Russian nuclear football. I have-” she glances at her phone “-three minutes to get an answer out of you. Actually, less. Are you on board or not?”

“To take down Aida? Fuck yeah,” replies Bobbi, grinning. “We ran into each other in Tokyo a few years back. She fucked up a mission Lance and I were running. And then she fucked me up too.” She winks. “Which isn’t to say I’m crying myself to sleep at night, if you’re interested in some fun later.”

Daisy rolls her eyes and holds up her ring finger. “Hello, married? Speaking of, Lance? Izzy? Idaho? Anyone else you can contact?”

“Last I heard, Lance is in jail,” Bobbi says with a chuckle. “Not that I expect him to stay there for long. But I’ll see what I can do. Idaho’s out of commission, but I might be able to get Izzy.”

“Try,” Daisy says curtly. “Thanks.”

“Wow, a woman of few words. That’s not what I remember.”

“I do not have time for banter,” Daisy says, glaring. “You’ll be ready? With whoever you can get?”

“Easy, tiger,” Bobbi says, downing the rest of the drink. “I’ll be there. Go on, save the world or whatever it is you boring do-gooders do.”

Daisy flips her off as she strides out of the bar.

\---

“Get ready to move in, Daisy,” Aida says over the comms, tapping aggressively at her laptop’s keyboard. “You won’t have much time.”

“I’m ready,” grunts Daisy. 

Aida smirks and glances over at Holden, who’s also typing at breakneck speed. “T-minus sixty seconds over here. You?”

“Right on schedule,” he says with a nod. 

Pleased, Aida nods and taps her ear again. “Daisy, get ready for the signal.” There’s no response except another grunt. Aida shrugs - she’ll come around sooner or later. She taps out a few commands on the keyboard, and then beams when dozens of tiny red dots begin to light up the city map on her screen - indicating she’s hacked their navigational system successfully. “There are thousands of cars in this city,” she says gleefully, “ _ and now they’re all mine! _ ”

Once enough of the cars are activated, she and Holden work together to send them speeding forward, down the busy street and around obstacles like occupied cars. The ones in the showrooms go careening out the windows, raining glass and other debris down on the spectators who watch, wide-eyed, from the street. There’s screaming and horns honking everywhere. The pile of cars that fell onto the street form a barricade, keeping a line of huge black limos from moving. Aida’s automated cars box them in from behind.

It’s absolute chaos. It’s the most beautiful thing Aida’s ever seen. 

She watches the little green dot - Daisy - run towards the giant cluster of dots onscreen. Everything is going according to plan. 

\---

Daisy’s body is going through the motions of ambushing the motorcade, fighting off bodyguards and security, and smashing a window to get access to the Minister of Defense’s limo. Her brain has retreated somewhere deep inside herself, where she won’t feel guilty or hate herself for what she’s doing. She manages to get her gun trained on the Minister of Defense’s head, and yell enough threats in her bare-bones Russian to force him to uncuff the football from around his wrist. Then she’s off, running back to her car.

She’s driving fast, trying to get out of the city and weaving around the other cars as best she can, when she bursts out into an intersection. And sees the half-dozen cars waiting for her.

Only one of them is familiar - the shiny black 1969 Dodge Charger that she’d know anywhere. The others are all fancy sports cars and a tank. A  _ tank? _ Jesus Christ, where did they get that?

Her team doesn’t move. She can’t see all their faces, but she knows they’re watching her. Waiting. Ready to take her down. 

She revs the engine, as a sort of warning. A few of them rev their engines in answer, as if saying,  _ no, we’re not moving. _

She slams her foot on the gas and charges the closest car, an International MXT . The car doesn’t move. She can see Mack in the driver’s seat, eyes boring into hers and hands resolutely on the steering wheel. 

At the last second she swerves and ducks the car down a tiny side alley. She hears a chorus of engines behind her, though she knows they’ll take a minute or two to turn around.

Still, soon enough a red Rally Fighter appears in her rearview mirror, and the MXT right behind it. “Fuck,” she mutters, speeding up. 

The MXT catches up with her, driving alongside her, and she can’t hear Mack at this speed, obviously, but she can see him yelling something. She stares ahead resolutely, refusing to make eye contact again. 

Mack’s car is getting closer and closer to hers, and oh  _ no, _ he is  _ not!  _ She brakes unexpectedly, watching him speed past her and imagining the look on his face when he realizes what’s happened. It almost makes her smile. 

Almost. She can’t focus on that because the Rally Fighter is still behind her, doggedly hanging on her tail despite everything. 

She’s about to swerve suddenly and crash into the other car when suddenly, something slams into the back of her car hard enough to send her body snapping forward. It feels like she’s got a hell of a bruise on her forehead, at least, and she’s too dazed for a few seconds to react.  

Finally, she manages to get herself together enough to glance over her shoulder. She expects to see the red Rally Fighter in ruins behind her.

She  _ doesn’t _ expect to see the steel cable connecting the Fighter to her car. 

_ Fuck. _

\---

When Mr. Nobody had mentioned harpoons, Mack privately thought that maybe they might be going a bit overboard. It’s Daisy. He knows Daisy - knows how she drives, how she thinks, and even if she’s lost her damn mind, there’s not much she can do that will really surprise him.

(Well, making out with a random lady who isn’t her wife was pretty surprising.)

But when he meets her eyes and sees the coldness, the utter lack of emotion there, he understands. Daisy might still be in there somewhere, but this woman, driving the car? This isn’t his friend Daisy. This is fearless street fighter Daisy Johnson, who’s gone rogue and who will take down anyone in her way to achieve her goals. 

“Guys,” he says over the comms, “she’s gonna make a break for it. Probably towards me.”

“I’m on it,” Kara says, shifting her tires ever so slightly to get ready to follow Daisy. 

“Oh no,” he hears Jemma whimper. She volunteered to ride with Kara, maybe thinking she could help keep her calm, but Mack guesses she’s probably regretting that now.

Sure enough, Daisy stares him down and he stares back, unmoving, until she swerves off into the alley. Which he knew she would do.

He and Kara give chase immediately, and he hears Melinda say, “I’m gonna have to loop around, this thing won’t get through there.”

“Shouldn’t have picked a tank,” Hunter says gleefully as he zooms away. Melinda growls something none of them try very hard to understand.

Mack focuses on going after Daisy. He knows this car is more powerful than the one she’s driving, and bigger too. But he’s gonna have to get close to her for it to make much of a difference, so he can’t get cocky. He sneaks down parallel streets, keeping an eye on her through the intersections when he can. 

Kara’s right on her tail, which doesn’t surprise him. “Kara,” he calls, “you gonna sting her anytime soon?”

“Working on it,” Kara grunts. She sounds like she’s gritting her teeth. 

Maybe if they just use his harpoon and Kara’s to keep Daisy’s car in place, they can hold her long enough to get the football. If she tries to run on foot, Hunter and Robbie can catch her. Elena can run surveillance on cameras in the area. It’s not perfect, but it’s the best shot they’ve got.

He turns and heads to cut Daisy off, and over the comms Jemma yelps, “Mack, Mack, we have her, but please hurry, she’s-” Jemma cuts herself off with a shriek.

Mack’s truck charges onto the scene and he barely takes a second to absorb the scene - Daisy’s car straining against the cable lodged in her back bumper, Kara’s car pulling to keep her in place - before he pushes the button to fire the harpoon cable at the front of Daisy’s car. He slams his foot on the brake and holds it.

Inside her car, Daisy’s eyes are wide and furious and she’s jerking the steering wheel around, trying to figure out how to get free. Mr. Nobody had assured them that the cables were made of nigh unbreakable materials, but Mack doesn’t want to take any chances. 

“Backup!” he calls. “Hunter, Elena, Robbie, we’re on Fourth and Jones holding Daisy, we need backup!”

“Here!” says Robbie, and his beloved Lucy appears with a roar of her engine. He fires a harpoon into the side of Daisy’s car and then hits reverse.

Then Melinda arrives with the tank and fires into the other side of Daisy’s car. “Got her!” she says. 

They all reverse as much as they can, their tires making some truly awful squealing noises as they do. Daisy’s car rotates slightly as it’s being pulled in four different directions. For about thirty seconds, it seems like they’re at an impasse. Daisy can’t move more than a few feet, and neither can any of them. Mack catches Daisy’s eye again, just for a second.

Then, she suddenly hits reverse and backs into the car directly behind her - Lucy.

“No, no, no, not Lucy, don’t you do it, fucking-” Robbie’s yelling is cut off with an angry howl when Daisy rams into Lucy’s front. “ _ Fucking hell! _ ”

Robbie, clearly panicking, reverses, and Daisy takes advantage of the slack in the cable to reverse her own car, which sends Lucy flipping forward unexpectedly. Robbie’s screaming a mixture of Spanish and English, and Mack can’t tell if he’s more freaked out or angry. 

“Robbie!” he yells, but it’s that split second that costs him, because suddenly Daisy’s front bumper snaps off and comes flying at him. The weight of the bumper sends Mack’s car sailing backwards, and he loses track of what’s happening for a second until, finally, he comes back to himself. The truck is lying on its side, door smashed in, and he’s still strapped into the front seat, dazed but mostly just bruised. 

He gingerly undoes his seatbelt and wriggles out of the car, careful to check himself for more serious injuries. But once he’s rolled away from the wreckage of the car, he’s able to get to his feet, so he does. Just in time to watch Daisy sprint away with the football, Hunter hot on her heels.

“Guys!” he says over the comms, as he runs after them. “Everyone in one piece?”

There’s a series of groans, but no disagreement, which he takes as good enough and picks up the pace. Daisy and Hunter disappeared around the corner, which means god knows where they might end up…

He rounds the corner just in time to hear the gunshot and watch Hunter crumple to the ground as Daisy lowers the gun. 

“ _ No! _ ”

\---

Daisy’s booking it, trying to get back to the rendezvous spot before Aida gets any ideas and sends in that moron Leopold to check on her. That’s all she needs. She’s got this under control, she’s got the football, everyone on her team should be incapacitated, it’s almost over…

Then she hears something that makes her entire body freeze. 

“ _ Daisy! _ ”

She stops, like she’s powerless to do anything else, and slowly turns around. 

Kara’s barreling towards her, furious and breathtaking. “Daisy!” she calls again. “Stop!”

Daisy should run. She should get the fuck out of here with the football and not look back. But she can’t, not with Kara being right there, looking at her like that. 

So she barely notices when Kara grabs the football and bolts off.

“Shit! Kara!” Daisy bolts after her, not even sure what she’ll do if she catches her. 

“What?” Aida yelps on the comms. “What’s happened?”

“Just a setback!” gasps Daisy. “I’m on it!”

She rounds a corner that Kara disappeared behind and comes face to face with her. Kara holds the case up, eyes blazing. “If you want this, you’re gonna have to shoot me,” she says. “And you’re not gonna do that.”

“Kara,” Daisy warns, reaching for her gun, “don’t do this.”

Kara doesn’t flinch. “I don’t know what’s going on here, what that bitch has on you, why you’re doing this, but I know one thing.” She steps close enough to Daisy that there’s barely a foot between them. “You love me. And you are  _ not  _ gonna shoot me.”

Daisy groans. “Fuck! Kara, I-”

But before she can say any more, Leopold bursts out of nowhere and shoves Kara up against the building, gun pressed to her temple. “Give it here,” he growls, “or I kill you right now. And I’m not so easily swayed as your little wifey there.”

The words are barely out of his mouth before Daisy has her own gun pressed to his skull. “Do it and you die instantly,” she snarls.

“Oh, that’s adorable,” Leopold taunts. “What do you think Cypher will have to say about all this, hm? About how you almost let your dearly beloved get away with the codes? Killing me will just piss her off more. Face it, Daisy, either way you’re fucked.” 

The last word’s barely out of his mouth before Daisy pistol whips him in the face, sending him reeling away, swearing. “Give it to me,” she growls at Kara. “It’s not worth your life, Kara.”

“Is it worth yours?” Kara asks, eyes blazing. She doesn’t drop the football. 

Daisy doesn’t take her eyes off her as she steps forward. She could grab the football out of Kara’s hand. She doesn’t. They just look at each other, not saying anything...and saying everything.

Leopold, having recovered from Daisy’s attack, stands up and wrenches the football out of Kara’s hand. “Aida will hear about this,” he growls to Daisy. “You’re on your own getting back. If I were you, I wouldn’t come back at all.” He sprints away, football clutched in an iron grip. 

Daisy turns to follow him after a moment, saying nothing to Kara.

Kara stares after her wife, unable to look away.

\---

When Daisy arrives back on the plane, Aida’s first words to her are, “Walk with me, Daisy.”

She does, because it’s not like she has anything better to do. Aida glides along, glancing over at Daisy like she’s waiting to say something until Daisy asks her a question. Daisy clenches her jaw and stays silent, refusing to play this game. 

Finally, Aida sighs - a calculated, sharp noise that cuts through the silence. “Daisy,” she says, “I’m sure you know what I have to say to you now.”

Daisy grunts. It’s almost a word. She has nothing to say to Aida.

Aida rolls her eyes prettily. “I’m disappointed in you, Daisy. All I needed from you was one thing, your cooperation. And then you let your little ball-and-chain almost ruin the mission. Admit it, Daisy. You would’ve let Kara walk away with the codes, wouldn’t you?”

“You got the codes,” snaps Daisy.

“ _ Leopold _ got the codes,” corrects Aida. “You made the choice to let her walk away. And now I have to make one of my own.” She stops, and Daisy realizes it’s because they’re standing in front of the room where she’s keeping Mike and Ace. 

Suddenly she feels cold all over. “What are we doing here?”

Aida doesn’t answer, just punches the codes to enter the room and beckons Daisy in after her. Mike, who was sitting on the bed when Aida came in, glares at her. “What do you want?”

Aida doesn’t answer him either, just goes straight over to where Ace is napping in a tiny crib that’s barely big enough for him. She picks him up, smiling, but it’s not the way people usually smile at babies. It’s more predatory. 

“Aida,” Daisy snaps, as Mike stands up. “What are you doing?”

Ace blinks sleepily and whimpers as Aida soothes him. “Babies are adorable little creatures,” she says, almost idly. “I hope I don’t hurt him. So delicate.”

Mike steps forward, reaching for Ace, but Aida puts one hand up to stop him. “No, no,” she says, still keeping her voice light. “Don’t come any closer.”

“Put my son down.” Mike’s voice is ice. 

“I’m just weighing my options,” muses Aida. “After all, your friend Daisy behaved  _ very  _ poorly today. I need her to listen to me if I’m going to get what I want. And it seems mere threats aren’t enough to get her to listen, so…”

The next few seconds are a blur. Daisy’s barely able to register Aida pulling out a gun, Mike yelling and rushing forward, Ace crying. Then, there’s a commotion, more yelling. A gunshot. Daisy’s body drops to the ground instinctively. Her ears ring. 

When she looks up again, Mike is slumped on the ground. Aida’s still holding the gun and Ace, her face blank.

“Mike!” Daisy scrambles over to him. He’s still alive, still moving, but there’s blood on his pants. Thinking quickly, she shucks off her shirt and rips off a piece to use as a tourniquet. “You  _ bitch! _ ” she roars at Aida. “You’d better hope he doesn’t bleed out here, or I’ll shoot you right in your goddamn heart!”

Aida shrugs, depositing a crying Ace back in his crib. “If you do that, Leopold is under strict instructions to kill this baby. I don’t think you want to be responsible for  _ two _ deaths, do you, Daisy?”

“Daisy,” hisses Mike, gritting his teeth. “I’ll be okay, go on.”

“I’ll get you out of here,” Daisy swears, checking the tourniquet. It does seem to be slowing the bleeding, even if it’s just a little. “Here, take the rest of my shirt.” She’s wearing an undershirt, not that she would’ve cared about being entirely topless when her friend was so badly hurt. “Reapply it when this gets too bloody, okay?” 

Mike nods. “Ace?”

“Ace is fine,” Aida cuts in. “I didn’t harm a hair on his head. Yet.”

“Didn’t ask you,” snarls Daisy, then turns back to Mike. “You sure?”

Mike nods. “Go.”

Daisy nods in return, then, in one quick motion, she slips off the silver locket around her neck and slides it into Mike’s hand. “Keep that,” she says under her breath. “You can give it back later.”


End file.
